Justine Damond’s fiance says he regrets not remaining on telephone before shooting

Don Damond describes final call as godmother says Justine hoped to return to Australia due to fears of US gun violence

The fiance of Justine Damond, the woman killed by a Minneapolis police officer, is haunted by their last conversation.

On the night of 15 July, she called to tell him she heard what voiced like a rape happening in the alleyway behind their home.

I have played this over in my head over and over, Don Damond told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Why didnt I stay on the phone with her?

He told her to call 911 and they talked until she said police arrived, when he told her Stay put, call me back, in agreement with the Tribune.

Justine would never call back. When a Minneapolis squad car with officers Matthew Harrity and Mohamed Noor drove southward down the alleyway with its lights to turn, she went out to greet them. According to the testimony Harrity provided investigators, he was in the drivers seat and was startled by a loud noise in the moment before Damond approached the car.

Noor, who was in the passenger seat, fired his firearm, aiming across his partner and through the open window, according to documents released by examiners. Damond was hit once in the abdomen. Officers performed CPR for about 10 minutes before pronouncing her dead at the scene.

Damonds death has provoked outrage in the US and Australia, where the cabinet of ministers, Malcolm Turnbull, called it shocking and inexplicable. On Friday, Minneapolis police chief Jane Harteau resigned at the request of the mayor, Betsy Hodges, who said the chief had lost the confidence of the people in the aftermath of the shooting.

Hodgess press conference to announce the move was then interrupted by protesters demanding more changes to the police department, which has been under scrutiny since the killing of Jamar Clark in 2015.

The police killing of another unarmed black human, Philando Castile , last year in nearby Falcon Heights has also also increased police community tensions the area. The officer who shot Castile, Jeronimo Yanez, was exonerated on 16 June, sparking protests that happened almost almost exactly a month before Damonds death on 15 July.

According to the Tribune, Justine and Damond met a meditation retreat in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2012. Both were interested in the teachings of Joe Dispenza, a chiropractor whose work focuses on using lessons from neuroscience to improve peoples lives an idea that Justine Damond would afterward investigate in her meditation classes. Upon returning, Dom told a friend, Hey, I merely gratified my future wife … The only problem is, she lives 9,000 miles back, according to the Star Tribune.